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Military service issue involving BTS reignites questions about qualifications for exemption
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Exempting pop music personalities from compulsory military service, just like Olympic medalists and award-winning classical musicians, has become a contested political issue again as the debate over whether or not BTS members should enter military service has heated up.
In South Korea, all male citizens who meet certain physical criteria are required to serve in the military for a period of one year and six months to one year and nine months, depending on the military branch. However, the government offers exemptions to top-performing athletes and artists who have significantly contributed to "elevating national prestige" abroad.
Medalists at the Asian Games or Olympics and recipients of awards in designated national or international classical music and art competitions are eligible for such exemptions, according to the Military Service Act.
While exempt from active duty, they are still required to complete non-active duty service, which includes four weeks of basic training and a mandatory 544 hours of community service during the 34-month term. Yet, there is no clause concerning pop stars.
While a large part of the discussion surrounding BTS' military exemption is about the fairness of exempting pop stars versus other artists and athletes, there have also been calls from some for the government to abolish or reform the military exemption system as a whole.
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| Then-President Kim Dae-jung, second from left, meets members of the national football team in a locker room of the stadium in Incheon after their victory against Portugal at the World Cup in this June 4, 2002 photo. The Korean team made it into the semifinals and as a result the team members were exempted from mandatory military service. Korea Times file |
They argue that granting exemptions from the military service for "elevating national prestige" is too old-fashioned. The system was introduced by former President Park Chung-hee in 1973, a year after South Korea (No. 33) ranked below North Korea (No. 22) in the medal rankings for the 1972 Summer Olympic in Munich.
In the 1970s, South Korea was a relatively impoverished and not yet highly industrialized nation, and Park, who rose to power through a military coup d'etat, believed in the importance of sports in building national power.
In 1982, Chun Doo-hwan, the military general who succeeded Park, even included the clause, "elevating national prestige through sporting success," in the National Sports Promotion Act, which later became a basis for a society-wide fixation with performance-based elitism.
"The system was introduced because we needed to cultivate elite sports and transform the image of South Korea. However, things have changed over half a century. We now rank as the world's 10th biggest economy," Rep. Lee Ju-young of the then Liberty Korea Party, a predecessor of the main opposition conservative People Power Party (PPP), said during a parliamentary inspection of the Military Manpower Administration in 2018.
"South Korea is home to high-tech infrastructure, global brands, and a famed popular culture, so elevating national prestige abroad is no longer our immediate concern," he said.
Cultural and social change also shaped public opinion differently over time. In the past, people here put much emphasis on unity and collectivist goals. Today, many people pursue individualism and self-development.
As a result, the clause was removed from the National Sports Promotion Act in 2020 with the passage of the Choi Sook-hyun law, named after the national triathlete who took her own life after suffering abuse from her coach and team doctor.
Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the PPP argued on Monday that the military exemption system should be scrapped for athletes and musicians altogether, calling it obsolete.
"The military duty is every man's obligation that should be equal for all, but it has become a concept of reward. BTS' achievements cannot be viewed as an act of elevating national status," he told MBC radio on April 18.
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| K-pop group BTS / Courtesy of Big Hit Music |
Supporters, on the other hand, argue that BTS should be exempted from military service for their achievements in promoting the country abroad with K-pop and their enormous economic contribution.
However, experts say they have been doing it for their own sake, not for the country.
Culture critic Kim Hern-sik claimed that the phrase, "elevating national prestige," is a vague notion.
"For some people, conquering the Billboard chart can have public value, but for others, it may mean nothing. The military exemption system was introduced to reflect a unique situation in the 1970s, but we are still caught in the same old frame. And I'm not just talking about BTS. This applies to classical and gugak musicians, too. They don't represent Korea. They represent themselves," he said.
Kim said the government should screen people for military duties that suit their interests or skillsets.
"I personally recommend that we follow the case of Israel, where it assigns military duty based on one's specialty or aptitude. Instead of discussing whether we should include somebody in the list of beneficiaries of military exemptions, we should broaden the scope of discussion and overhaul the system," Kim said.
Jang Gyu-soo, the author of "The Korean Wave and the Asian Wave" and "Music Business" who is an adjunct professor in the Department of Cultural Contents at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, echoed the sentiment, saying that it is wrong to grant special treatment to pop musicians because of their global fame.
"Military exemption is a very tricky issue. Allowing an exemption because BTS topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart only creates disharmony between the haves and have-nots. The proposal that allows only those who hit No.1 on the chart to qualify for a military exemption also sounds absurd," he said.
Jang further explained why premising BTS' possible military exemption on the notion of "elevating national prestige," doesn't make much sense.
"Legendary trot singer Namjin served on active duty in the Vietnam War, as well as H.O.T and TVXQ, first- and second-generation K-pop stars, who completed their military service when they passed the physical qualifications. Even Elvis Presley served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960," he said.
